Café Scientifique and Historique

Talk science and history with some of UVic's finest researchers

University research has a funny habit of being hard to reach if you don't work at a university, yet research itself in all of its many forms is one of those great universal passions that appeals to and connects us all.

UVic's Café Scientifique/Historique programs bridge the research-to-public gap. Hosted by a number of units across campus, these evening cafés provide insight into topics of popular interest that appeal to the lover of knowledge in all of us. They are also a fantastic opportunity to meet local researchers and discuss some of the most interesting and sometimes contentious research underway in Canada.

In a café, we pull research away from its usual habitat of the classroom or the laboratory into, well, a café or a bar.

Café Scientifique/Historique events are more informal and accessible than a public lecture. They are for people who are looking to learn about science and/or history and have the chance to discuss these topics directly with researchers from the field. .

The concept of the Café Scientifique goes back to the salons of Paris in the 19th century when people would gather to talk informally about science. This idea disappeared for a period but was brought back in the 1990s by groups in the United Kingdom and France. The concept has now spread around the world and cafés are held in countries as diverse as Morocco, Romania, Denmark, Spain, Argentina, Cameroon and Canada.